In just his second outing for the LFR Driver Development Group and second time in a Super Late Model car, Christian Eckes scored a fourth place finish at the South Boston Speedway this past Saturday. The 14-year-old driver is currently competing in select races this year before joining the LFR DDG for the full 2016 season.
“We couldn’t be happier with what Christian accomplished at South Boston,” said Rob Fuller, team owner. “We put the first race at Orange County behind us, got together as a group and made some changes to the car, and Christian showed up focused and ready to race. This year’s goal was simple – log laps and get some good seat time in preparation for next season. These runs are great for the driver and team to build confidence in each other. I’m looking forward to seeing what the kid can do after five or 10 races. I think he will impress a lot of people.”
Eckes qualified fourth for the race after the re-draw took place on Saturday. While he was able to make some laps on the track during Friday’s practice, this was his first attempt at both a PASS Tour South race and a race at South Boston Speedway.
“I had never raced at South Boston before, but I had raced it on iRacing a few times beforehand to help me have a genuine understanding of the track,” said Eckes. “The track is very complicated when it comes to the line you can run the car, but it’s a fun place. I just went into the weekend with the goal of bringing the car home in one piece and learning more about racing the LFR cars.”
From the drop of the green flag, Eckes quickly moved up towards the front of the pack. He was racing second with 34 laps to go before a caution came out on the track. Eckes spun his tires on the final restart, dropping him back a few spots before finishing fourth.
“The biggest challenge for me is that as a younger racer I always just want to ‘Go, go, go,’ and with the PASS Series tire, you have to save a lot. Luckily, I had Jeff Fultz on the radio helping me to figure out when to save and when to go,” Eckes explained. “I’ll still have to practice some starts and restarts a little bit. I messed up on my last start and got dropped from second to fourth, but overall it was a great race.”
With the Top-5 finish, Eckes is more excited than ever to be working with the LFR Driver Development Group for the rest of this year and next.
“This was only my second start with LFR and racing a Super Late Model, so I have to admit I was a little nervous heading into the weekend,” said Eckes. “But LFR does a great job with everything they do, so it makes my job a lot easier!”
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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